The Latest from EGPAF

Tatu Msangi is an tireless advocate for women living with HIV in her home country of Tanzania , and on Tuesday, June 18, she joined U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric P. Goosby, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), and Namibian Minister of Health and Social Services Dr. Richard Nehabi Kamwi to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In this blog, Tatu shares her story and why PEPFAR is so meaningful to her.

Last month in Washington D.C., the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT) held its annual leadership retreat, bringing together maternal and child health-focused clinicians and scientists from around the world to discuss the most innovative solutions to health problems facing women and children.

At an event to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced today that as of June 2013, one million babies have been born free of HIV around the world thanks to PEPFAR support. Here at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), we are celebrating this amazing milestone and the crucial role our organization played in its achievement. EGPAF has been a key implementer of PEPFAR’s program since 2003, and has contributed to more than 20 percent (213,000) of the one million averted pediatric infections.

In the United States, radio runs a distant third behind television and internet for news gathering. Only 33 percent of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said that they listened to the radio for news. But in Africa (particularly sub-Saharan Africa), radio is by far the most dominant media source, with the widest reach and the largest audience.

In November of 2011, the Vodacom Foundation donated 43 SMS printers to EGPAF to help expedite HIV testing and get more clients their test results back quickly. Recently, Dr. Jeroen Van’t Pad Bosch, Country Director for EGPAF-Tanzania, visited the Vodacom Foundation office to share his appreciation for the generous donation.

Today is the Day of the African Child, a day in which we focus our attention on the needs of children living across the African continent and celebrate the great progress that has been made in recent years to improve the health and well-being of Africa’s most vulnerable populations. For more than 25 years, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) has been committed to advocating for children around the world, especially those living in sub-Saharan Africa.

This week, we’re learning about President Obama’s upcoming trip to Tanzania, exploring new ways to use mobile phones for HIV data collection, praising the Global Plan’s progress, and reading a new report from the Institute of Medicine on PEPFAR’s global impact.

It’s wedding season in Zanzibar, Tanzania and as brides and grooms throughout the country prepare to tie the knot, health officials are launching an advertising campaign encouraging couples to know their status before they wed.

Earlier this year, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) evaluated the impact and performance of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The renowned 20-person evaluation committee, including Cathy Wilfert of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), spent nearly two years (2010-2012) evaluating the program via country visits, direct interviews with key stakeholders at the country and global levels, document reviews, and data analysis.